If you have a rifle or two you'd like to equip with a telescopic sight, but can't justify several hundred dollars for most of the offerings currently out there, Primary Arms has a good deal at the moment. It's for their Classic Series 3-9x44 Rifle Scope, currently priced at just $94.99.
It has a 30mm scope tube, which transmits more light, more efficiently than the typical 1-inch tube used on most lower-cost commercial scopes. That means using 30mm. mounts and/or rings, of course, which are a bit more expensive, but not too much so. You'll have the opportunity to buy discounted scope covers and mounts if purchased with the sight, which is useful. It uses a standard duplex reticle, with no bullet drop compensation or range-finding ability, but for its target market that's probably not a problem. I intend it for use at up to 300 yards, and out to that range I can compensate for bullet drop and windage by eye. Any competent rifleman should be able to do so, if he knows his firearm and ammunition.
I've been trying one out, and I'm pretty impressed by it. It works just fine for cartridges from rimfire to .308 Winchester, and I presume it'll probably suffice for more powerful ones too, despite their heavier recoil. At its price point it's probably unbeatable value right now. I own several Nikon ProStaff scopes, which were (sadly) discontinued a few years ago, and always found them to be very good value for money. Well, this Primary Arms scope is at least as good as them in terms of optics, gathers more light, and costs a lot less than they did. I don't know how Primary Arms managed to hold this price point, but I'm not complaining! I just bought a couple more to put on rifles that don't yet have scopes, because with my eyes getting as old as the rest of my body, iron sights are really not an option for me any more.
(No, Primary Arms isn't compensating me in any way to boost their products - they don't even know I'm writing this article. I just like what I bought, and I like to tell my readers and friends about good deals when I find them.)
Recommended.
Peter
I'll drop my 2 cents here for Burris Signature scope rings with the nylon inserts--
ReplyDeletehttps://www.burrisoptics.com/mounting-systems/signature-rings?sub=40
Additional inserts can be ordered separately in different thicknesses if needed.
Scope leveling tip. Level the weapon on a convenient work surface with the scope rings loose enough so the scope can be rotated by hand. Hang a plumb line directly behind the rifle by a few feet. Use something beyond the plumb line as a screen--wall, box, whatever. Shine a strong flashlight (100 lumens or so) backwards through the scope. The cross hairs will be projected onto the screen along with the shadow of the plumb line. Align the vertical cross hair with the plumb line shadow. You can even use the scope eyepiece to focus the cross hair image.
It's good to have someone pass on practical info like that.
ReplyDeleteI've been considering a scope, but first I have to afford the land to use it on.
That's the real price point :)
I have always believed that it is better to over scope a rifle than to under scope it. For shots out to 300 yards I would want a 3-12x50 with graduated reticle. I had a 4-14x50 on a 7mm Mag that the very last graduation was 1000 with the crosshairs dialed in at 200 yards. I kept that scope and it is now on my 6.8SPC. It is way too much scope for a 6.8SPC.
ReplyDeleteNice find!
ReplyDeleteI prefer Nikon scopes, having a lot of experience with Nikon cameras and optics.
ReplyDeleteI'll look at the one you posted about, as my little 22 could use a decent scope.
Nikon hasn't made rifle scopes in several years. I picked up one of the last ones made. They still make spotting scopes, though.
DeleteNothing but good things to say about Primary Arms optics. They’re not made in USA but they must have solid QA. If you’re looking for something with low to no magnification, take a look at their prism scopes. They beat red dots in my experience.
ReplyDeleteMost defensive rifle use, given civilian self-defense restrictions, will be reactive / responsive fire at relatively short ranges.
ReplyDeleteThe 3 power setting should be both wide enough of field and clear enough to focus on your target.
As practice, try training on 4 different colored targets at 50 to 100 yards, from low ready, to a color called by a partner. All shots on a paper plate should count as good enough.
John in Indy
Covered by PA lifetime warranty? If so, then worth buying as a project/experiment. If not, then avoid -- full stop.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, 200 clams is about the lowest I'll spend on rimfire scope and 300 centerfire per painful lessons in buy once, cry once.
To be clear -- I like PA and affordable/value optics, but all manufacturers have duds....
Unfortunately in my case, finding 30mm rings that fit my go-to deer rifle's scope base (Remington 600) on a 50 year old mount would be extremely hard to find if not impossible. That scope should be replaced as I bought it in 1992, (Simmons 2.5x-8x Whitetail Classic) so it dusk/dawn clarity could be improved on with a modern scope. Rifle was discontinued back in late '70's, so finding scope mount components for it would probably be frustrating anyway.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation - that is a good price for a serviceable scope.
@Anonymous at 4:46AM: You're in luck. You can buy a Picatinny rail to fit your Remington 600. Previous customers rate it very highly.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Remington-Mohawk-Picatinny-Scope-Mount/dp/B01G97X9C8
You can then put any Picatinny 30mm rings (or an entire scope mount) onto that. Primary Arms offers several of its scope mounts at a discount when you buy the scope from them.
Happy hunting!
Oh Wow - I did not see that coming. THANK YOU for that information, I would have never suspected this was an option.
ReplyDeleteHi. All other things being equal, I don't believe it's 100 percent accurate that a 30mm tube transmits more light than a 1-inch tube. The objective lens size and quality) is what counts. The purpose of a larger tube allows more adjustment travel for elevation and windage.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great and helpful article. Thanks for writing and posting it